The Dangerous Lord Darrington (26 page)

Gently he put her on her feet, He was holding her against him, his face so close that she found herself marvelling at the beauty of the long dark lashes that framed his eyes, observing the fine lines around his mobile mouth. Beth’s lips parted; the tip of her tongue flickered over them. Immediately the earl swooped on her. He pulled her roughly against him, kissing her ruthlessly. Her head was thrown back against his arm and she gave herself up to him, tangling her tongue with his, driving her fingers through his hair, holding him to her. She made no protest as he tore the kerchief from her neck and began to trail burning kisses over her skin. Her breasts tightened and pushed, aching, against the front of her low-cut jacket. She clung to him as he hustled her against the wall. As he captured her mouth once more his hands were gathering her skirts, lifting them aside until he could caress the bare flesh of her thigh.

She gasped and a laugh trembled through her. He was going to take her here, now, and suddenly she knew she wanted this more than anything in the world. Her body was singing with desire. Impatiently her hands sought the buttons of his breeches and she tried to unfasten them, but she fumbled, distracted by his fingers moving up her thigh. Beth arched her body, muscles straining as she offered herself up to those searching fingers, gasping as his caresses became more intimate, more insistent.

Then there was no fabric between them, his flesh was against her, inside her. She cried out, clinging tightly to him as he thrust ever more urgently. Heady excitement overwhelmed them. Beth was gasping and crying while Guy’s rasping breath grew faster, culminating in a shout as his body shuddered and he gripped her fiercely, crushing her against him.

Beth buried her face in his neck, holding on to Guy as she felt the tension drain out of him. A small, silent laugh shook him.

‘I had not intended to take you like that.’

Her arms tightened. ‘It was wonderful.’

He raised his head. ‘Truly?’

Smiling mistily, she cupped his face with her hands and drew him down to her, placing a gentle kiss upon his lips. He responded immediately, deepening the kiss until they were both burning once more with desire. He swept her up and carried her across to the bed, laying her down as carefully as if she had been delicate porcelain. Impatiently Beth reached for him, pulling him down with her, hungry for another kiss. He obliged, measuring his length against hers, ravaging her mouth and face and neck until that was no longer enough and they began to scramble out of their clothes. She did not remember pulling the pins from her hair, but it was loose about her shoulders.

Coat and waistcoat were discarded. Guy turned away to struggle with his boots and breeches. By the time he turned back he found Beth had removed her petticoats and shoes and was sitting on the bed in her corset and chemise, about to unfasten her garters and remove her stockings.

‘No.’ He caught her hands. ‘Let me.’

He pushed her back on the bed and took one stockinged foot in his hand. Slowly he ran the other hand from ankle to knee. she trembled at his touch. He pulled away the ribbon garter and began to roll the stocking down, a little at a time, placing a kiss on each inch of flesh as it was revealed. He finally reached the toes, kissing and caressing them until Beth was writhing and moaning softly, then he turned his attention to the other leg, forcing himself to go slowly, drawing out the anticipated pleasure for himself as well as Beth.

‘I told you I would kiss every inch of you,’ he muttered, drawing off the silk and discarding it. He knelt on the bed and pressed a kiss on the soft flesh behind her knee.

She shuddered. ‘I am on fire for you,’ she moaned, arms reaching for him.

He laughed softly. ‘Then you must burn a little more, my love.’ His hands caressed her thighs, his mouth following the trail of his roving fingers. She threw her arms wide, clutching at the bedcovers as her body moved restlessly, opening for him, offering up her most delicate places for his kiss. She gasped as he continued with his relentless pleasuring. She groaned, biting her lip to prevent herself crying out. It was too much, she could no longer control herself. Her body pulsed and tightened in an ecstasy that she had never known before. She was convulsed in pleasure, again and again and again.

Beth subsided, spent and trembling, and lay quietly, cradled in Guy’s arms.

‘Oh,’ she breathed at last. ‘Oh, I never knew it could be like this. But, Guy, you did not share it…’

‘Hush.’ He kissed her. ‘There is time yet for me. After all, we haven’t even finished undressing.’ He sat up, his hands on her waist. ‘Turn over and let me get you out of this damned corset.’

Obediently she turned on to her front, resting her chin on her hands. Guy knelt up and straddled her, his fingers working out the laces of her corset, pulling them free with slow steady strokes. Occasionally he stopped, leaning forwards to brush aside the hair from her shoulders and drop a kiss on the back of her neck. Beth closed her eyes, her body resting, but not sleeping, for as the corset loosened she felt the excitement building again. At last Guy pulled the stays away. She shifted, ready to turn and remove her chemise, but Guy stopped her. Silently he pushed the chemise up past her waist. She felt the soft linen of his shirt cool against her back. His hands caressed the soft swell of her buttocks, then slid around to her stomach, lifting her on to her knees before him, his fingers driving downwards between her thighs. A white-hot ache curled low in her belly. She could feel the heat of his body, hard and aroused behind her, and she responded again, lifting, opening, pushing herself up and backwards against him. His fingers continued to stroke and caress, even as he entered her. She was dizzy with elation, her spirit soaring, and all the while he was moving with her, in her, against her. His hands slid up beneath the loose chemise to cup her breasts and he kissed her neck as she arched back towards him. There was a cry, but Beth did not know whether it was she or Guy in the final, writhing, frenzy of excitement that overtook them. As the tension eased he was clinging to her, his body warm against her back, then with a sigh he gently pulled her down on to the bed. Beth lay with him curled protectively about her, wrapped in his arms, the soft billowing folds of his shirt keeping the cool night air from their bodies.

Guy held her close, nuzzling her neck, breathing in the sweet perfume of her skin, burying his face in her silky hair. His senses were still bewitched, the blood singing in his veins. He ran his hands over her skin, marvelling at the smooth, rounded contours of her body. The fire had burned low. They should slip between the sheets and keep warm, but she was lying so peacefully in his arms that he was loath to break the spell. He pulled her closer and closed his eyes.

He awoke a short time later to find her turning restlessly in his arms. The fire had died, but the room was washed with a pale moonlight. Desire stirred as she pressed against him.

‘I have never known the like,’ she murmured. ‘I wanted it to go on and on.’

‘And it will,’ he said softly. ‘I have yet to see you naked.’

He eased himself away from her and stripped off his shirt. Following suit, Beth sat up and drew the chemise over her head. Guy caught his breath as she stretched up, arms raised and momentarily tangled in the material. He reached for her, cupping her breasts in his hands and burying his face in their softness. She trembled, leaning into him. Her fingers drove through his hair, insistently pulling him up towards her until she could capture his mouth with her own. He reeled at the passion of her embrace as they fell back on to the covers. She was exploring his body, discovering him, first with her hands and then her lips, kissing every inch of him, gently teasing his senses. When he groaned and arched beneath her touch she gave an exultant laugh. He lay back and closed his eyes.

‘It amuses you, does it,’ he muttered, ‘to have me at your mercy?’

She was kneeling over him, her hair tumbling around her shoulders, tickling his chest as she leaned towards him.

‘Of course. It is where you belong, sir.’

The mix of laughter and husky, wanton passion in her voice was incredibly arousing.

‘We’ll see about that!’ He reached up and pulled her, laughing, into his arms.

She responded eagerly to his kiss, pressing warm and pliant against him. With the first, heady urgency of their passion spent they gave themselves up to a slow and sensual pleasuring of each other in the darkness until at last, sated, they fell asleep in each other’s arms just as the first streaks of dawn were lightening the sky.

Chapter Seventeen

B
eth woke up slowly to the sound of the rain pattering against the window. Her first thought was that she was cocooned in a warm protective coat, her second the knowledge that it was Guy wrapped around her. Memories of the night flooded back and a delicious lightness filled her being, pooling low in her belly and causing her thighs to ache with desire.

She had given herself to Guy and she could not regret it. She loved him. Beth hugged the thought to her. With Guy beside her she could face anything. There were problems, of course—Simon’s freedom was not yet secured, but with Madame de Beaune’s letter that was only a matter of time. And she would have to tell Miles that she could no longer marry him. That would be painful, but she hoped he would understand.

She rang for Tilly, but when she had finished dressing and there was still no sign of her maid she went in search of her. An enquiry of Mrs Burley informed her that Tilly had not been seen all morning, so Beth made her way up to the servants’ quarters, where she found her maid still in her bed and groaning pitifully.

‘Ooh, miss, I feel so bad,’ she complained. ‘Me stomach’s that sore and I daren’t leave the room lest I disgrace meself.’

Beth took a cloth over to the jug of water on the washstand and damped it.

‘Poor Tilly,’ she said, putting the damp cloth on her forehead. ‘Is it something you have eaten?’

‘I don’t know, miss, but with you and his lordship away Mrs Burley don’t do much cookin’ so me and Fitton went out to the pie shop yesterday morning, and I didn’t finish all o’ mine so I kept it to eat last night. It did taste a bit funny, though.’ She turned quickly and retched into the chamber pot.

Beth went downstairs to find the earl dressed and waiting for her in the breakfast room. He held out her chair for her. As she sat down he put his hands on her shoulders and bent to kiss her cheek.

‘You left me sleeping. I missed you.’

‘I beg your pardon, my lord—’

He sat down beside her. ‘So formal? Will you not call me Guy?’

She responded with a shy smile. ‘Guy, then. I beg your pardon if I have kept you waiting. My maid is not well. I think she has eaten some bad meat and is now far too ill to be moved today.’ She sighed. ‘I do not want to delay our journey a moment longer than necessary, so I shall have to leave her enough money to buy her ticket—’

‘There will be no need for that,’ he interrupted her. ‘Fitton will be following with the baggage wagon, and Holt is going to take my curricle on to Wylderbeck. One of them may wait behind for your maid to recover.’ A smile glinted in his eyes. ‘Which one shall it be?’

Her lips twitched. ‘I do believe Tilly is quite partial to Fitton’s company, my lord. If you do not object to his delaying his journey, I think that would answer very well.’

‘Then it shall be done. Would you like me to ask Mrs Burley to send one of her girls with you, to act as your maid?’

‘That will not be necessary. I can manage to dress myself.’

‘And I will manage to
undress
you,’ he murmured, sending the heat rushing through her veins again. He laughed. ‘I beg your pardon! Now, you must eat something before we set off, so what will you have?’

Realising the good sense of the earl’s suggestion, Beth set herself to breaking her fast, refusing to join the earl in drinking ale and instead sipping at a glass of water.

‘How long will it take us to get to Malpass?’ she asked, pushing aside her plate.

‘With good weather, and as long as you do not object to travelling in the dark, we could reach the Priory by late tomorrow night.’

She rose and walked to the window. ‘Will this incessant rain affect us, sir?’

‘I hope not. We shall be keeping to the main road, which is in very good order.’ He came up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. ‘It is only a little rain, Beth. It will not stop me getting you safely to Malpass.’

She dropped her head to one side, rubbing her cheek against the back of his hand. ‘I am sure, sir, that if anyone can get me there it is you.’

The rain beat down steadily as they clattered out over the cobbles, patterning the carriage windows with rivulets of water and obscuring the view.

‘On our way at last,’ said Guy, reaching for her hand. ‘Happy?’

‘I shall be happier when Simon is free. And when I have spoken to Miles.’

‘Ah, yes, Radworth. How will you explain to him that you set off for Richmond to buy your wedding clothes, but instead you went to London?’

‘Oh, pray do not joke about it,’ she begged him. ‘I shall, of course, have to lay the whole story before him.’

‘Everything?’

She bit her lip. ‘I shall tell him I…I can no longer return his affection.’

‘And what will he do then, do you think?’

Beth freed her hand from the comfort of his grip and twisted her fingers together. ‘I think,’ she said slowly, ‘that he will insist upon the marriage settlement being honoured. He will take the Priory.’ Her voice quivered. ‘I very much fear that I will lose Malpass for ever. I had hoped Miles would agree to make the Priory over to Simon, once he knows he is a free man, but now…’ She gave a little shrug. ‘I suppose it seemed sensible for Papa to sign everything over to me, when he thought Simon was drowned.’